I recently purchased a '94 GT 5.0 convertable. Eventually I would like to get around 450- 500 HP out of her. I'm very new to the 5.0 mods. What steps and parts would be the best route with out damaging the block or any other part of the engine. It's the reason I bought this particular stang.
any help would be appreciated!
In all likelihood your going to need to get boosted to reach those numbers and a stock block wont be able to handle that type of power of your planning to race it. It can survive it if you dont abuse it.
Your going to get alot of opinions as to what parts to get to help reach those numbers so it might be helpful if you tell us what your budget is first and wether you plan to stay street legal.
The money isn't a problem, I plan on taking as long as it takes to achieve what I want. It is after all a project. AS far as street legal, I'll bend as many rules as possible with out causing to many problems. By the way liked the specs on your car!
Thanks
First off thank you for replying! As far as the block goes, I will do what I need to to achieve those numbers and not have to fear damaging my engine, so if replacing the block is nessesary then I will do so. I'm just not that knowledgable on serious engine work. Basics no problem. I just need a basic guide, and you seem to be very knowledgable( via these forums).
I might have jumped the gun. Money, time and whatever else is needed to acheive what I want is not a problem. I've read a lot about certain upgrades that at a point in time might not be the way you want to go if your planning on future upgrades(i.e. supercharger, blower etc..) So I guess I need to know what basic upgrades I should do first in order to keep moding until I get to where I want. Embarrising as it is I need a guide through the whole thing.
That's pushing a stock block pretty hard. If you really want to make that kind of power, get a better block for reliability.
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Tom Moss
88 GT 5spd Vert 3:73s, Flowmaster catbacks, stock cam +4°, GT40P heads & 1.7 rockers, Jet-Hot coated MAC P headers, 97 Explorer intake, 65mm TB and 19# Explorer injectors. 277RWHP/330RWTQ
My choice would be a 331 from dssracing.com and AFR 185 heads. The 331 is very streetable, can easily take advatage of the 185's breathing abilitys and can pretty much take all the parts and accessories right from a 302. You could actually pretty much get all the parts you wanted first and continue to build the 302 slowly and when your ready just get the 331 and transfer all the parts over. (except maybe the heads, I know on a 302 you have to notch the pistons to use the 185's. Im not sure if this applies to a 331.)
Ok tmoss im sure you got your own preferences what do you like?
Hey stone, with the mods on your car what kind of HP are you pushing. By the way those blocks are nice but $$$$. Good thing I have all the time in the world. Oh yeah the forum you reccomended, the advice would be the basic starting points you would give?
Well I havent dynoed in a long time and I did some things after I did so I dont know what Im currently at. But if I recall correctly the last numbers I had were 270rwhp and 303rwtq.
I would start with the basics since your in no rush to do anything. I would work from the rear of the car forward. Cat-back, H or X pipe, headers, CAI, Udp's. But thats my preference, there are people that like to do the complete opposite. Keep in mind that none of what Ive mentioned above is going to give you any real power. Basicaly the motor will breath a little better and sound great. But it will all help when you start with the heavier mods that can really take advantage of better flowing exhaust.
The transmission in our cars is fairly weak. So dont go abusing it too much. I went through two Ford units prior to getting the one I have now. (and that was just with hard street driving.) You can read about it here www.lentechautomatics.com There are ways to get more power out of them if you know how to rebuild them and replace the weak parts. You can also add a shiftkit or valve body to improve shift firmness and shift points, you can even change the torque converter to aid in launching harder. But depending on the amount of miles on the tranny and how much abuse its taken I would prefer to save my money and just buy one that was meant to be abused. Im basing that on my personal experience. Others have had better luck than me in that dept. As far as shifters, thats really a personal preference. Im still using the stock one.
Gearing? I use 3.73's. Some love the 4.10's. If you do a search on this site youll see that the debate is never ending over "which is better". I chose 3.73's because I felt they were the better choice for me. I think they have a good balance of street use and racing.
Here's are links to some helpful threads and subjects weve covered in the past. Its a good place to start.
Transmissions that were porpuse built. Check the link I gave you above.
Gears are going to give you the best "bang for the buck" because you will feel an immediate difference in the way the car accelerates.
Theres no wrong place to start. Its really your choice. If you have the money to get them and have them installed and want to feel something right away, you wont be disappointed.
Btw I edited my above post, you may want to re-read it.
New-old 5.0 
